Any ecommerce webmaster will tell you that the only thing standing in the way of your online success is your shopping cart solution. If you have a good online shopping cart, your website has a much better chance of being successful than one that has a clunky, poorly constructed one. The last thing you want is for your customers to have to work hard to make a purchase from you, because they won’t. They will abandon their carts and shop elsewhere. Is your online shopping cart as good as it could be?
User-Friendly Design
Online shopping carts should be simple, organized and easy to find and use. You want your customers to be able to see what’s in their carts with one click and proceed to the checkout screen with one click. Make it easy for them to view the items, quantities and prices by using a table structure and reduce the number of screens they have to use to modify their orders or checkout.
Stringent Security Procedures
The absolute worst thing that can happen to your business is that your customers’ sensitive information is hacked by thieves. While you can’t 100% guarantee that nothing will happen, you can and should do everything you can to protect the data that resides in your website. Using a reputable credit card processor to service your merchant account goes a long way to ensuring that you are doing what you can. You also need to ensure that your website complies with PCI/DSS regulations along with your merchant services provider. Lastly, always use 128-bit SSL encryption technology to further protect the data in your system.
Social Media Hooks
Last but not least, you will want to be able to use social media outlets to help you market your ecommerce website. Websites that have integration with Twitter, Facebook, Pintrest and other consumer based social media outlets provide you with an easy way to promote your ecommerce website and products. Your website should also allow customers to spread the word about your website and products if you give them the opportunity to tweet about it from their shopping carts. The best shopping carts allow you to give customers discount codes for every social media mention they make on your behalf.
By taking the time to understand what customers want, you can create online shopping cart solutions that will make you money rather than leave you hanging.
